We have received many email inquiries from businesses wishing to “quietly walk away” who may or may not agree with our opinions or methods, but wish to remove themselves from the controversy. Several have expressed the opinion they personally wish to remove their sponsorship, but have ongoing relationships with individuals and other businesses who may remain affiliated with the event, we respect this position entirely.

The boycott and protest campaigns organized and supported by Save the Tarpon, Inc are not meant to do damage to businesses. They are meant to express the free will of the consumer and show our displeasure with your business’s support of what we feel is a destructive and unethical event. We are well aware of the potential damage that can be done by a protest, and in this respect we would not wish to continue to promote a boycott of any business that is not involved in the PTTS.

We have started a telephone and email campaign to notify businesses of this position and to allow them sufficient notice so that they may make a final decision about their affiliation with the PTTS. This is not blackmail and there is no ultimatum stating that you must remove your sponsorship ‘or else.’ Through our contact with many sponsors, the opinion of most is that they have not been properly informed regarding the controversy surrounding the PTTS and its methods. This phone campaign is to help not only inform sponsors of our position, as stated by us, not by our detractors. It also provides notice to the business so they have time to remove themselves from the list, as well as providing them the information below as to how they can be removed from the listing.

Our primary mission is to promote awareness of the damage being caused by PTTS to the Boca Grande Tarpon fishery, the community, and its heritage. Many sponsors we have contacted are offended by our methods stating that they agree with our position (after reading some of our materials or actually taking the time to speak with us, to those who have we thank you graciously). That being said, it takes only moments online to find numerous negative or controversial reports from many reputable sources in the media with regards to the PTTS. Among them, you will not find a single in support of the event that does not come from someone with a vested interest in the event. Those businesses must also shoulder some of the blame, as much of this controversy has been known for years.

You may not agree with our methods, but we don’t think that any of those who have taken the time to contact us will say that we are irrational or untrustworthy. We do hold 100% by our convictions, and out of fairness we do not show any favortism towards sponsors of the event. Many of us have friends, acquaintances, business contacts, and even family participating in and supporting the PTTS. This is not an attack on these individuals or on their personal businesses, but rather is an attack on the revenue stream of those profiting from the destruction of a natural resource that we all feel very passionately about. The following requirements and stipulations will be upheld and enforced equally among all sponsors, no matter the size, relationship to members, etc.

Though some businesses chose to support our mission, others wish only to be free of the controversy. We respect both positions equally. We will take the time to outline a very simple process for removing yourself from the list:

Notify us via email (contact@savethetarpon.com Attn: Boycott) that you will not be participating in 2013. You may give us a reason, tell us your are pleased with our mission, let us know how much you hate us, or say nothing. Believe it or not, we greatly value your constructive feedback.

Let us know if you would like us to announce your removal publicly. We will make no public mention of your removal from the tournament and will simply take you off the boycott/blacklist/protest list if you do not request us to make a statement. Your email will remain 100% confidential providing that the business in question actually follows through with their removal from the 2013 event. You are welcome to prepare a public statement separate from your email if you are so inclined. * No public statement is required.*

We will keep all correspondence between your business and Save the Tarpon, Inc strictly confidential. Those of you that have taken the time to speak with some of our members on the phone can attest to our ethics on this.

Early reports of today’s Professional Tarpon Tournament Series (PTTS) protest are coming in. Starting with the first “release” floating up on the beach. There will be videos, photos and stories coming. For all those who attended the event, good work!

If you attended the protest and captured any of today’s events, please forward us your story, photos and videos as we work to compile all of the evidence.

After close to 10 years of fishing the PTTS in Boca Grande we officially resign and will be focusing our efforts on the Worlds Richest “all release” tournament next year in Boca Grande. It was a good run, good times and people we’ve met in the process have been awesome. It’s been our competitive nature as a company and as a family to participate. Recent science is leading to the effects of this style of fishing being damaging to the tarpon. If you’re like me and Boca Grande has been a major part of you’re upbringing you’ll understand this position. I want my children to have the same chance to chase tarpon as I have. As a company with resources we can help keep a fishery safe if we believe in the science and follow proper fish handling in the future. There’s a big argument that many people killed these fish in the past for pictures and I agree it was wrong. No one is doing this now intentionally and we as anglers need to do our part to be responsible. I was proud to fish this series against some great folks and am proud to move on and try something different. Join us next year at the Worlds Richest Tarpon Tournament. If you’re fan of Andros, an owner or a competitor we encourage you to do what you can for our fishery. Compete with us in an event geared towards sportsmanship, education and conservation!

Please join us for a peaceful protest of the Professional Tarpon Tournament Series (PTTS).

Where: Gasparilla Island State Park (Boca Grande Lighthouse) at the South end of beach. Look for the PTTS weigh-in area.

When: Sunday, June 17th, 2012 at 9:30 AM

What to Bring: Yourself, your friends, banners and signs. Please add SaveTheTarpon.com to your materials. Also, make sure you bring a few bucks for each person to pay entry to the park. Oh, and cameras to help document the event.

Parking: There may not be any parking left in the State Park lot, so plan accordingly. Come by boat, bike, golf cart, hot air balloon…whatever it takes.

It is very important everyone stay calm and controlled to uphold the integrity of our cause.

Email us if you have any further questions.

Important Links

Use the flyers and logos below to help spread the word. The flyers are standard letter size so print some out and hang them around town.

The video appearing here was initially posted to Capt. Artie Price’s Facebook page late last month. Save The Tarpon re-posted the video to the group’s own 30,000+ follower page. In a few days, the video drew more than a half million views along with thousands of comments, shares and “likes.” Price and his video had […]

The following was posted to the Professional Tarpon Tournament Series website shortly before noon, Friday (Nov. 20, 2015), four days after tournament owner Silver King Entertainment LLC abruptly walked away from its lawsuit filed nearly three years ago against Save the Tarpon, its more than 28,000 members, its directors, its former directors and a number of names […]

A PTTS lawyer is once again threatening to haul Save The Tarpon into court – this time in an apparent effort to cripple the group’s legal defense fundraising efforts. Save The Tarpon is seeking to raise a minimum of $20,000 to fight a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (aka, “SLAPP Suit”) filed by Port Charlotte boat dealer […]